Several facts are well known by therapists: that cooling reduces pain by decreasing electrical conduction velocity in nerves; that cooling reduces inflammation by decreasing cellular permeability; and that cooling limits topical swelling by causing capillary constriction.
Numerous prior art cold packs have been developed for application to parts of the human body which need cooling therapy. Some of these devices are in the form of bandages and compresses, and some have a number of cooling gel compartments. For use on limbs and joints, most have some type of anchoring straps, with complementary mating fasteners on the body of the overlay and at the ends of the straps. The shape of each device and the arrangement of straps used are selected to meet a variety of physical and anatomical conditions requiring cooling therapy. In many devices of this type, the mating fasteners are the complementary pieces of a hook and loop fastening system, such as VELCRO®. Often the devices do not provide reliable, yet comfortable, contact with the shoulder joint in order to facilitate efficient negative thermal conduction from the cooling gel or ice to the joint.